Cliff Despres, who has more than a decade of experience in journalism and public relations, is communications director for Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio.
Shortly after he was born, Bruno Lara got a fever that was hard to control. After two months in the hospital, Bruno was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, a rare and life-threatening immunodeficiency. His hope for a cure lies in finding a blood stem cell donor. To help Bruno and other Latino patients urgently searching for a genetic match, Be The Match, a nonprofit that aims to save lives through marrow and cord blood transplantation, launched a new campaign, "My People. My Family. Mi Sangre." "The cure for blood cancer is a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically matched donor – a “DNA twin.” Latino patients have only a 46% chance of finding one," according to the Be The Match website. Finding a donor for Latino patients is hard because of complex ...
Emma Sanchez-Vaznaugh, a former Salud America! grantee, has received a $3.2 million federal grant to study how federal and state nutrition policies and community environments affect the health of different racial/ethnic populations. Sanchez-Vaznaugh is an associate professor of health education at San Francisco State University. Over the next five years, Sanchez-Vaznaugh and her team will investigate whether the policies—which attempt to improve school nutrition standards and reduce childhood obesity—are effective across different racial/ethnic populations, according to a news release. The study will also evaluate whether the policies are more effective when children attend school in neighborhoods with healthier food options. “We hypothesize that the [federal and state ...
Salud America! Guest Blogger
By Dr. Gary Brunette, Chief of the CDC's Travelers’ Health Branch Summer is around the corner, and many people are planning getaways to spend time with friends and family and recharge. If you are one of the lucky ones planning a trip to Latin America or the Caribbean, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants you to know that Zika virus is still a concern in these parts of the world, and we have important travel tips to help you protect yourself. Travelers who plan to visit Latin America or the Caribbean should take steps to prevent getting and spreading Zika, especially pregnant women. Though it’s not in the news as much as year’s past, Zika virus is still a risk. If a woman becomes infected with Zika during pregnancy, she ...
What are you doing for Cinco de Mayo? Many will use it as an excuse to party with margaritas and tacos. We at Salud America! invite you to think outside the box and celebrate Cinco de Mayo in one of six unconventional ways.
1. Find Out What Cinco de Mayo Really Means
Cinco de Mayo ("Fifth of May") does not celebrate Mexico's Independence Day. Mexico won independence on Sept. 16, 1810. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. Still, it has evolved into an observance of Mexican heritage. "In the 1950s, Chicano activists turned Cinco de Mayo into a commemorative holiday used to educate Mexican Americans about their cultural heritage," ...
Latino college students are far less likely than their white peers to complete their degree, and more likely to still be enrolled beyond six years on their path to a degree, according to a new report. The report, College Completion through a Latino Lens, is from Excelencia in Education. They examined the Latino-focused findings from an analysis of college completion rates by race/ethnicity from a 2010 student cohort, which was led by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Key points from the Excelencia in Education report show: About 45.8% of Latino students earned a 2- or 4-year degree within six years. This is a lower completion rate than their White peers (62%) and higher than their Black peers (38%). One in every five Latino students were still “in ...
Latino children and youth face more poverty and greater gaps in education and health than their White peers, according to the 2018 County Health Rankings. Sadly, this puts Latino kids at a disadvantage when it comes to becoming successful adults. How can we help connect these kids to better opportunities? Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, to tweet about the state of Latino health and what leaders and groups can do to advance health equity and opportunity for Latino children and youth! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat─Creating Opportunity: Connecting Latino Youth to Brighter, Healthier Futures
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, May 8, 2018
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: County Health Rankings ...
Is it hard to find healthy food in your town? Or places to play? Or health care? What does local health look like, compared to other areas? The new Salud America! Salud Report Card has these answers and much more. You can select your county and automatically generate customized data on local obesity, food access, physical activity, and health equity issues compared to the state and nation, and comparing Latinos to non-Latinos. The Salud Report Card also offers policy solutions, case studies, and share-ability to inspire people and policymakers to start and support healthy changes in their communities. Enter your location for your own free Salud Report Card! "Moms, dads, teachers, local leaders and more can use the Salud Report Card to find out what health issues are ...
An unhealthy diet is the leading risk factor for death, causing more than 500,000 U.S. deaths in 2016, according to a new study. For the study, University of Washington researchers analyzed data on 333 diseases in every state from 1990-2016. They implicated diet in 529,999 deaths from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases in 2016. After diet, tobacco, high blood pressure, and obesity were the next biggest early death risks. These findings have big implications for Latinos, who tend to struggle with local access to healthy food, according to a Salud America! research review. “To an increasing degree, overweight, obesity, and sugary diets are driving up health care costs and are costing Americans years of healthy life,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, ...
Racism can crush a person’s mental health. In fact, racism negatively affects mental health because it causes depression, anxiety, and heightened psychological stress in those who experience it, research shows. How can we help Latinos and other communities of color who experience racism every day? To celebrate Mental Health Month in May, let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, to tweet strategies to reduce racism, help those who experience racism, and boost mental health in communities of color! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: Racism and its Alarming Impact on Mental Health
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, May 1, 2018
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: Dr. Silvia L. Mazzula, executive director, Latina ...
